


Defense Mechanisms

by Cur



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: AU, Daddy Issues, Die Hard Obsession, Domestic, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Jake plays himself, Okay jake REALLY plays himself, Torture yikes, angst yo, in which I can't write, self destructive tendencies, why does he do this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2018-11-08 05:17:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11074836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cur/pseuds/Cur
Summary: Jake's ends up captured and his captor isn't dealing with his REALLY good sense of humor.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> in which it's 3 am & i'm really emotional,,, enjoy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake gets his ass kicked and the worst is slowly dawning on the squad.

"Isn't Santiago disappointed you're working a case during a  _blizzard_ on  _Christmas_?" The much larger man sat down beside the desk, using his giant palms to hide the case file Jake was harshly investigating.

 

"Christmas doesn't stop crime, Sarge." Jake shook his head and reached for the file under the palm, only to be denied with a harsh glare. "Okay, big guy, glare all you want. Look, it'll be fine, okay? The best gift anyone could get me is catching this guy. I bust the mafia, a drug cartel, and druggies, obvi. The case itself is a gift! I cried when I saw it–"

 

"That's accurate," Gina confirmed from afar, her eyes locked on her phone. "I bought chocolate for the occasion. It was dee-lish-us." 

 

"At least bring the task force," Terry pleaded. "You're not exactly all muscles." 

 

"Of course I'm bringing a do group. Although, it'd be a good  _Die Hard_ situation if I managed to kick their asses on my own. Marv would be happy to go home, this is like the seventh Christmas where I made him follow me into an epic battle–"

 

"You and I have  _very_ different definitions of 'epic'." Terry released his hand and stood up, scowling at the detective smiling in delight. "You better be at Christmas morning breakfast."

 

"Free food with my god family? You had me at  _free_ , Sarge. I mean family, whenever the hell you said that." Jake shot off a casually finger gun as he stood up to get ready. 

 

* * *

 

 

Oh, man, this was  _just_ like  _Die Hard._ His heart furiously hammered against his chest as he looked onto the rather large gang gathered. This would definitely make Captain Holt smile proudly towards the detective and speak of how proud of him. Hell, maybe he could even a medal of valor and get a speech—a willing "Jake is the best detective/genius/badass ever." Just the thought made the detective grin in anticipation. This was a fucking stupid idea. The task force was still ten minutes away, yet all of him wanted to run and arrest the entirety of the gang. Ava would probably grow up begging for him to repeat the story when Terry and Sharon were out with Amy-

 

"Ten minutes, Peralta, that's all. You don't to tell a story if you're dead. But also, that's be really cool if I got shot during this bombass case and Amy and Ava avenged me- Perfect TV movie." Jake furiously shook his head and cocked his shotgun. "Shotgun, baby, shooting them fools, getting the captain's approval, getting a badge of hooonooor-" His squeaky sing-song voice faltered to a snap behind him. His shoulders tensed up as he spun around, holding the gun to the man's head- Who was followed by a herd of other men. "Oh, cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool- Not cool." He yelped to a sharp pain in the back of his head that had deprived him of attacking the small gang.

 

* * *

 

 

"He'll be here. He'll show up with a really bad oneliner, he'll kiss Amy, and everything will be normal. Also, he'll high five me, Holt will cheer for him, Terry will video tape it all." 

"Charles, it's been an hour," Rosa cut off, her eyes not moving from the paperwork beneath her fists. "Get over yourself, your moaning is giving me a headache."

"Sorry, I just have a bad feeling. He was acting weird, you know? Like,  _weird._ "

"So how he normally acts," Diaz concluded. "Great observation, Boyle." 

Charles shook his head and slumped back in his chair, his eyes worriedly going over to the empty desk next to him. "Dammit. You think he'll show at the bar?"

"Go home to your kid, Boyle. It's Christmas."

The phone at Gina's desk started to ring (but the desk was empty; She had a family to go to), so Captain Holt himself came out into the main room, picking it up. Although his face was its usual stoic expression, the remiander of the squad took notice of his tone and change of posture. Something was wrong.

" _Oh._ "

It was like a bomb had gone off; A simple two lettered word froze everyone who had tuned in up. Holt placed down the phone, a devastating click going off. Amy was halfway out of her chair as her wide eyes looked down at the phone. Charles seemed to already had have a heart attack-- even Rosa was stiff and concerned.

"Sir?"

The voice had been strangled out, already desperate for the answer, yet pleading for a reassuring lie. Of course, Holt provided all but the latter. 

"The raid was successful," Holt stated drily. "Jeffords, may I see you in my office? The rest of you, get back to work."

Terry frowned and excused himself into the captain's office. The captain practically collapsed in his chair, his head in his hands.

"What happened with the raid, sir?" The sergeant whispered, but he didn't want an answer. He wanted Holt to assure him all was well nd the only probelm was the New York tree's lights had powered off for a few minutes.

"It seems our lead detective went missing before the team got there. There's no trace of him besides his badge." Holt shook his head. "We must tell the precinct-"

"At least wait until after Christmas-"

"We need to find him  _now_ , Jeffords. Unless you want to leave your family to die because it's Christmas. It sure would serve as a strong counterpart to what you've been fuming about." 

"How, Cap'n? How do we tell these people their brother might be dead because we didn't do more?" Terry sat down in the chair across from the other, sighing defeatedly. 

"Figure it out. We need all hands on deck for this case."

"...yessir."

* * *

 

Jake woke up with his ears ringing. His head was on fire like he was recovering from ten bottles of scotch per hour. Eyes barely opening, the bright room slowly began to settle with his heavy eyelids. His shoulders were slumped as he gazed around, the bright light interrupted by two rather large figures. _Please be trees or Terry, please be objects, please don't hurt this pretty, clean boy-_

"He finally awakens." 

"God?" He returned, his eyes still squinted. "Only God would say awakens, buuut never thought of him as the tying me up to a chair. So, m'lord, what are all of kinks that you have and does this mean you really aren't against homosexuality? Good thing too, because homophobic people really get on my nerve-"

A tight grip on his shirt shushed him, especially when the man's god awful breath went directly into his mouth. Cooties much?

"You cost me my men, drugs, livelihood, detective. I will make you pay."

"As compelling as that is, solid pass, my man. You broke the law, I made your men pay- soon, you will too. If you're feeling left out, I'd be eager to help." Jake smiled innocently, grimacing as he yanked his wrists up against the duct tape that held him bond.

Gasping to the feeling, Jake took a few punches to the stomach and a singular one that landed  _right_ on his nose. "This is just like the movies," he breathed. It was about the only thing keeping him positive otherwise he would've reverted to being a pathetic loser.

Part of him felt like that little kid again, staring at the door every date, the hope of his father coming home slowly dying. How quickly would his hope of being rescused perish? He lifted his head up and set his jaw, doing his best to look like a tough guy. There was a very tough guy behind the leader, whom tightly carried a suitcase.

"Drugs?" He guessed. "I'll be sure to collect them when I bust out of here."

The two other men remained silent, but slammed the suitcase down on the stool closest to Peralta. It was opened to display an abundance of shiny tools. His heart fell as he looked at them, gaining a grin from the leader.

"What kind of kinky stuff are you into?" He questioned in bewilderment. The man groaned to a harsh punch in the face, watching blood drop and stain his pants. "Not even gonna ask for consent? Uh,  _illegal._ Not that you care." 

Jake again struggled against the rope that seemed to dig into his skin. Cool, cool. He'd be fine. "Gah!" He screamed when a knife went through his wrists. "Oh, shit, now  _that_ was uncool. I thought we were friends, dude." He was breathless as a million waves of pain went throughout his body, making him groan multiple times.

His body fell back as the knife was wiggled by the stronger before yanked out. "Escape is impossible, detective. You will bleed out and every word you dare say will speed up the process. Understand?"

"Smort," the detective groaned out, his vision again becoming blurry. 

He jumped awake to a sharp pain in his stomach that jolted to the rest of his body multiple times. Electricity, he assumed. "At least I don't have to pay for the electricity bill." His words were faint before a punch to the stomach knocked him out.

* * *

"It's been two weeks. Unfortunately, we have other cases to focus on. Felonies first and then we can think of Peralta. Detective Diaz and Sergeant Jeffords, stay on the case for another week. After three weeks, logically speaking, it's a lost cause." The captain grimly closed a file and nodded towards Diaz. "'Mind giving us a briefing, Diaz?"

"There's hardly anything to work with. Cameras show us nothing since we can assume Peralta was hiding from them. All we know is there are two men who got out. Fisk and Boumir are the last two men, according to the snitches. We're trying to figure out what other buildings they owned, but considering the time difference, it's impossible to confirm if he's even in America right now. We have a suspicion for a warehouse by the port that is said to have activity despite being unsold. Task force and myself are going after this briefing." 

Rosa didn't wait for dismissal; She left promptly after to get into gear. 

"Dismissed?" Holt commented, uncertainty lacing his tone. Amy sent him a funny look, but kept quiet. She had been abnormally quiet the past two weeks, but had completely lost it on those she interrogated -- which was good for the case, but not so good for those worried for her.

Boyle had been worse. His hair was white and he was balding; Usually he worked the hardest but he barely had the strength to come to work. Needless to say he was devastated -- unhinged, even -- by the loss of his best friend. It was as though he were dead. It was quiet on the precinct nowadays, and people found themselves looking at the door or his desk, stupidly hoping that he'd be there and lighten everyone up with some god awful jokes. 

Rosa and the team left, but the rest of the squad couldn't help but to worry that they'd find Peralta's corpse, mutilated beyong recognition. Amy would have to go on without her soulmate, Charles' without his partner in crime, and the rest of the squad without the comic relief. 

Jake had become a son to Holt more than he'd like to admit; It was a casual occurrence in their conversations to call each other dad and son. It seemed natural to the extent of people just accepting it. The pair had a connection no one else had; Holt had gone so long without a child, Jake without a father. The two looked out for each other, joked around- But now the captain had to worry he'd never joke around again. It was as though he did lose his son; Even if Jake was alive, he was well aware things would be different. Jake wasn't exactly an expert at handling his emotions. He had a touchy past and shitty things seemed to happen to him, but the guy came in with a joke and a smile- always.

What if the damage was so bad he wouldn't smile as much or at all? 

Hours passed before Rosa came back in, her outfit covered in blood. "We got him. He's alive and at Madison General." She exhaled a breath and looked at Amy, smiling weakly. "We got him, like I promised." Amy stood up and hugged Rosa tightly, not caring for her rule of no touching. 

Boyle and Terry jumped up, racing out to their cars, the care of work evaporating because their friend was _alive._

* * *

Bed rest. 

It was dull lying there, his body immobile and his eyes unable to open. He heard the same beeping noise everyday, but everyday someone new came in and talked to him or just sat there, holding his hand like they couldn't believe it was there.

Jake finally woke up officially around two days later, gaining a scream from Charles. The squad all came in and began questioning him, but he only smiled blankly, like he couldn't comprehend any of his words.

"Do my parents know?" He finally spoke, eyebrows raised. 

"Your mom does," Amy reported, kissing his cheek gleefully. "I don't know about your father, we tried to-"

"Yeah, I don't care about him. Anyway, did anyone get any new cases? Arrest another Uterus, Ames?" Jake smiled and nudged her, but she shook her head. 

"Nothing really got solved except for all of the easy cases. Our top priority was you." 

Peralta nodded and grinned, but the rest of the squad seemed bothered. He acted normal, but something was...off. Maybe he just lacked the strength to tease them at the time being or whatever, but it had to be okay. He always bounced back. 

"Can you all leave us for a minute?" Holt stated-- it was clearly a command put nicely. He took a seat next to the detective, smiling wearily. "What exactly happened to you? If they harmed you-"

" _Nothing,"_  he answered all too quickly. 

"Then how did you get all of these wounds?" Holt shook his head and leant forward. "Son, you went through hell. I wish- I wish we would've been quicker to come to your rescue. I apologize for not doing more."

"Okay, so I got a little hurt. All that matters is we caught the guy, Dad. I'm _fine."_ It was total bullshit. Even with the painkillers he felt as though he would burst with pain. Just the memory of his skin being cut into was enough to make him wiggle and twitch away from the foot of his bed. 

"In any case, if you find yourself in need of talking to someone or - or anything related to the matter, myself and the rest of our family are more than happy to speak to you or just help you out. So whenever you wish to speak of what happened-"

"Too much, honestly," he confessed. "I should've stayed quiet, but the guy was ridiculous. I got stabbed and electrocuted and all of that. There wasn't a moment where I thought I was going to die. I knew the squad would come to my rescue."

"Oh," the captain managed. Jake smiled and looked down to fiddle with the sheets on the bed. He had bandages tight on his wrists from surgery; Luckily, his hands would be fine. "I'm glad you found rightful dependency, Peralta." Holt couldn't help but to smile partially. "We'll see you when you get cleared to return. You'll be seeing a therapist-" Jake groaned. "-and you'll be seeing us at the bar when you can finally leave."

"Cool, cool, cool, cool. Quick Q, do they have any blue drinks here? All I have is water and- ugh- dee-scust-tang." 

" _Disgusting_ ," he corrected.

"C'mon, man. It was for emphasis and you know it." Jake shook his head and crossed his arms, only to wince -- he had numerous broken ribs. 

"I'll visit with soup one of these days. I'm sure Santiago would love to have me in her home." 

Jake's face paled to the remark, raising suspicion. "Amy? Is- Amy?" 

"English, detective," Holt scolded.

"It's- It's nothing. Okay, it's something but it's none ya business."

"I feel as though it is, Peralta."

The detective scowled, sinking back in the bed. " _Fine._ I think they're after me and Amy is gonna be targeted for it. Sir-"

"We'll keep you safe, Jacob. You and Santiago are safe, I swear it." Holt stood up and gently put his hand on top of Jake's. "Get some rest."

Just as he opened the door, Jake yelled out "Nine-Nine!" which gained a mocking from the remainder of the squad.

The door closed and thus caused the injured's smile to evaporate. 

They weren't safe.

 

 


	2. Let's try, try again.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A curt introduction to the rest of the story after over a year of a delay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha.. sorry this took so long! it's 3 am once again, and the mood is right. let's go!

Her body moves like fluid, stretching outwards without a wince, curving backwards with nothing more than a confident smirk. Her hands have a certain magic to them as she curves her fingers and straightens, daring anyone to oppose her with her darkly shaded eyes.

His heart is pounding avidly out of his chest; nonetheless, he smiles enchantingly and steps forward.

"Gina, this is the worst movie ever."

The screen turned black, the dancers and Gina's fascinated smile both disappeared. The dance goddess stood, crossing her arms and looking just as intimidating as Rosa tended to look. If she was in a really good mood.

"Don't disrespect good art, Diaz," she responded. "I bet you can't even get close to matching the lamest dancer on that stage."

Rosa decided against indulging her and doing the praised ballet for her girlfriend. Instead, she grabbed her leather jacket and put it on. "I have to get to my shift," she said bleakly. "Jake and Amy are back from their honeymoon tomorrow."

"God, they were gone for like _two days_ ," Gina criticized. "Amy's dad is rich, isn't he? Even if his dumb son-in-law in financially broken for life. You can barely blame his medical bills, either. Most of them Holt paid off."

Rosa shifted and raised her head. "Think it'll happen again?"

"What?"

"You know," she responded, her voice uncharacteristically soft. " _It._ Jake didn't exactly keep up his friendship status with criminals in prison nor arresting more of them. Remember that dentist he tricked into confession?"

"You're _worried_ ," Gina teased. "But, look, Terr-bear and Commissioner Dad would never let him do anything that significant alone again. Besides... He's Jake. He can charm his way out of any situation!"

"Sarcasm," Rosa noted. "Comforting."

"What I mean to say is..." Gina turned serious, grabbing onto Rosa's arm. "We're better prepared this time. He was re-trained, passed his physical, went to jail, and got married. He's a big boy now."

Rosa hardly looked convinced, but she leaned forward to kiss her girlfriend, a soft smile on her face. "Thanks. I better get going, though. Gotta get the thick files before Peralta goes out of his way to find the most _Die Hard-_ est case humanly possible."

* * *

Jake still loved _Die Hard._

Really. He did. He was a diehard _Die Hard_ fan.

He sat with his wife in their bed, watching the movie. It was their tradition, even if Amy wasn't as actively obsessed with the series as he was. His arm is around her shoulder, his head pressed against hers, the soft sound of gunshots filling the room.

"We can take longer off," she said softly. "I love my job. Being a sergeant is amazing, but...so is time with you. We just got  _married,_ Jake." She was smiling lovingly up at him, her emotion bursting his heart.

"That sounds great," he breathed. "Really, really, _really_ great, but-"

His voice stopped as his eyes passed the scene. A man was tied up in the scene, covered in sweat and blood and pleading for his life.

 _His head was heavy, and he was pretty sure his body was officially out of order. Leaving sneakily was apparently_ very much not _an option, due to his more than likely broken feet and loud pants. Sweat beads slipped from his forehead to meet the blood on his legs._

_"I'm just a detective," he said again. "I don't know every case ever. I don't know where everything-"_

_He screamed out to sudden impact in his sore knee, a sob he wished he could keep quiet leaving as well._

_"I don't know. I swear to God, I only knew about the drugs and sex trafficking. Jesus. I don't k-"_

"Jake?"

He lifted his head to meet Amy's eyes, realizing that he had buried himself into her stomach. She looked a little startled, but mostly worried.

"Yeah," he breathed. "Yeah, let's take another day off."

She hesitantly ran fingers through his hair, doing her best to comfort him (as seminars and books suggested). "We don't have to talk about it, baby," she hushed. "Studies have shown it does help. If not me, maybe Holt, Terry, your mom, a professional."

Jake shook his head, an echo of a smile on his features. "We tried the professional. I'm taking things slow at work."

"I know that, but you still--"

"I don't know, Ames," he continued, sounding a little heated. "I'm trying to do the stuff I was taught, but...it just happens sometimes."

He looked up at the TV again, a pained look on his face.

"Maybe we should stop watching this," she suggested. "Maybe...indefinitely."

He loved _Die Hard._ He always had. But he had seen too many cracks through the movie magic.

So, he nodded.

"Yeah. I think you're right. Let's watch that history documentary you wanted to watch yesterday."

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, clearly satisfied with his response (although she remained troubled). She leaned into him, her eyes lighting up quickly when the documentary started.

* * *

 


End file.
